The Fox and the Ladybug
by TeaQueen2112
Summary: After an incident at school Nathaniel acquires the fox miraculous and becomes the newest hero of Paris. More details inside. Nathaniel/ Marinette friendship (Or rather onesided feelings), Marinette/Adrien, Chat Noir/Ladybug and all other miscellaneous ships. A requested fic by Shiranai Atsune.
1. Chapter 1

This is a request from Shiranai Atsune. The premise for this is that Adrien is away on modelling business and Nathaniel is given the fox miraculous. He fills in for him and teams up with Ladybug to stop a familiar villain. More chapters are on the way.

* * *

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in a state of pure, concentrated shock. It was the worst news that she had heard all week. What was worst was that she should have anticipated it. She knew all of his schedule so she should have known.

"Where is he going?" Marinette said, shaking Alya with all of her strength. Needing to release all of her anxiety.

"He's going on a modelling trip. It's only for a week." Said Alya releasing herself from her best friend's surprisingly strong grip. When it came to Adrien and bad news Marinette could tend to become a little on edge.

"A week! What if he meets some British cutie and falls for her and moves to England to be with her and I never see him again." She sobbed, crying into her book. Alya rolled her eyes and patted her on the back to reassure her everything would be fine.

"Come on Marinette, British people aren't as charming as people say they are. And I'm pretty sure they don't have dentists." She said jokingly hoping to take her best friends mind of her crush leaving and not telling her. Marinette looked up from her despair and replied with sadness in her voice.

"They have the accents. And they have proper British pastries. Do you know how good Bakewell tarts from England are?! All hope is lost for me." She one again grabbing Alya by the shoulders but this time she only this time it was a choking hug in which she had been introduced to. Alya took a sharp inhale while Nino was snicker in the background. She shot him a glare and he halted his laughter.

"You'll be fine. Besides, you could always get to know someone else better. If you can talk to more boys comfortably then Adrien will be no problem." She said in the hopes that her friend would release her. When Adrien got involved Marinette became…Unpredictable…

"Yeah but who?" She asked searching the room for anyone. She could talk with any of the boy's just fine but all the boys seemed to be preoccupied. Ivan and Mylene were busy acting like a true high school couple, Kim was reading a book on football with max beside him playing on a small portable console.

Out of the corner of her eye she did notice one boy who was all alone in the back of the class, sketching away in a notebook.

Nathaniel was sitting by himself once again, working on his art.

"Hey Nathaniel." She asked going up to him. It was weird having to talk to him considering what he had done as the Evillustrator but she could total sympathise with him. She probably would have been Akumatised herself if she had done something like that with Adrien.

"Oh Marinette! How are you?" he asked quickly trying to hide his work from her. She looked suspiciously at it but then looked back to the artist. He was clearly trying to play it cool but he looked like he was screaming internally.

"I just wanted to talk. I…" She hadn't planned this far ahead. She needed to say something and fast. Marinette looked around but her panicked mind was making it hard to focus.

Nathaniel was on the edge of his seat. He had no idea what she wanted but he was hoping that it was good. Even after the whole 'evillustrator' incident he still had feelings for her. He now how more feelings for Ladybug but his love for Marinette was still there. It had been mostly his fault anyway. She was only trying to keep everyone happy. Like always.

"I wanted to ask you about your art!" She said suddenly getting the idea in her head. She might as well talk about something that interested him.

"My art…." He could feel his hopes fading fast but all was not lost. He could still get close to her by helping her with whatever she wanted done. He didn't think that other people would like his art but everyone else said it was amazing.

"Do you want a commission?" He asked raising an eyebrow slightly.

Marinette took a moment to think about it but she then nodded deciding it sounded like a totally plausible excuse to be talking to him out of the blue.

"I'll take out my sketch book and I'll show what style you like then you can tell me what you want." He said rummaging through his things quickly, pulling out a nearly full portfolio. He began to flick through the pages trying to find a style that he thought that she might like the best. If he did this well she might begin to talk to him more and then maybe he could even ask her out on a date.

Not like last time though.

As he started to flick through quicker he didn't noticed that a small pile of pages had fallen out of it. A page with something that if anyone saw, Nathaniel would literally die of embarrassment.

"What is this?" Mari questioned looking at the page that had fallen out. He could feel his pupils widen as she read the page. He felt it would be too rude just to snatch it out of her hand she he sat there helplessly as she looked at the most embarrassing thing he had ever drawn.

On the page was a drawing of Nathaniel himself only he was in a fox costume. He was posed while holding what seemed to be a paintbrush styled flute. Along with it he seemed to possess what was a fox tail necklace. Marinette had seen this before. It was what Lila had been wearing when she was faking being the real fox miraculous holder.

"That's my hero persona I guess. It's a fox themed superhero. It's based on these legendary items called Miraculous." He decided to explain hoping that if he had some reasoning behind it. He could feel her staring at his cheeks. They were probably turning a bight colour due to the embarrassment he was feeling.

"Miraculous?!" Marinette nearly shouted. She couldn't believe that someone else had found out about it but there was nothing linking her to it. She calmed herself down. Thankfully most other people in her class knew what she was like and just assumed she was yelling about Adrien. _Again._

"Yeah. Since the Cat and Ladybug ones were already taken I decided to design the fox one." He said showing her proudly. It had been earlier in the week when he had been in the library, doing a sketch of a bookshelf when he noticed that Adrien was looking intensely at an old looking book. When the model wasn't looking he took his chance to have a quick look though it and take a couple of quick pictures.

Marinette was astounded by the fact that Nathanael somehow found out what the other miraculous looked like before she did. It annoyed her but she remained in her high spirits and thought of what she could say about it.

"That's so cool Nathaniel I especially like the-!" She was interrupted mid-sentence by the sudden thundering outside. Everyone in the class room got up to see what was happening outside. Like any other day, it was naturally caused by someone who had become akumatized by Hawkmoth.

"Get out of the class room." The teacher ordered them. As the students were running out Chloe being the absolute jerk she was deliberately pushed Nathaniel out of her way making sure she got to safety first. This caused him to fall and all of his art works to scatter along the floor. He knew he should really be getting out of there but he wasn't leaving his work behind.

"Come on Nathanael!" Marinette tried to drag him out of the room so she could transform into her alter ego.

"I'll be out in a second I just need to get all of the papers. You go on I don't want you getting hurt." He said not even looking up at her. She sighed and decided there was no point. She needed to change and fast. She nodded to him and went off to find another place she could be able to change.

Unfortunately as he had just about picked up all of the papers he had knocked over his pencil case and a few of the pens went flying out. He became nervous as the noises outside increased and he decided that it probably was enough to get the pages. He could always get the pencils when he got back. He ran out only to see that in the courtyard there was a giant tree like monster currently fighting with Ladybug.

As he watched he noticed that she was beginning to struggle. Most liekyl due to the lack of her pun making other half. She was clearly fighting to the best of her abilities but it seemed like the more she fought the stronger it became.

Nathanael looked down to a piece of paper which had fallen out of his book. He looked at his work as it just happened to be his superhero persona. He didn't know why but he was filled with a sudden urge that he needed to be what he envisioned himself to be. He needed to help save the day.

The area seemed pretty empty and as Nathanael scanned he couldn't see anything he could use to his advantage. He needed to think quickly. Then he spotted what he would use. Without being detected by either the hero or the villain he picked the most useful thing from a pile of sporting equipment. Not a Baseball bat, not a hockey stick but a volleyball net.

He was never normally this brave but he thought that if he helped Ladybug maybe she would look at his art work and tell him her thought on it. He knew it was probably super cheesy and clichéd to her but it was special to him.

While running he could hear what the villain was saying. It was quite clearly an eco-warrior as he heard it say _"Anyone who hurts the environment must suffer my green justice!"_

He quickly set up the net and brought the net to the other side of the court and did the same. He didn't want to be seen but he needed to get the monsters attention. He could tell that the monster seemed to be very slow in terms of intelligence which he could majorly use to his advantage.

"HEY BIG TREE THING! LOOK AT ALL THIS PAPER I WASTED WITH POINTLESS DOODLES!" He said waving his art book out while hiding his body behind a railing. Ladybug had been distracted and hadn't noticed but it had been heard by the giant and he had been set off now. He ran toward Nathanael while trying to hit the book with a vine. As he was about to strike he had fallen perfectly into the artists trap.

Ladybug had seen that she had been given the opportunity to taken down this akumatized person once and for all. She shouted her infamous catchphrase _"Lucky charm"_ while tossing her weapon into the air. She was given a pair of child safety scissors by the miraculous and even though she had no idea how this would help her, her miraculous vision showed her the other items which she would need and she was able to combine it with a chair and the net, quickly destroy the chosen item and proceeded to capture the evil butterfly that resided within it.

Nathanael looked to see her looking around but then when he wanted to tell her he found himself freezing on the spot. He took a moment but a moment seemed too long as by the time he found himself unfreezing he noticed that she was already launching herself into the air.

He sighed and came out of his hiding spot. He had already done something completely brave so he didn't understand why he couldn't do it then.

As everyone was counted both Nathanael and Marinette were able to sneak back unnoticed and as soon as the teacher made sure everyone was okay everyone was sent home for the day. Marinette went back to her house with Alya probably to talk about Adrien or something else. Nathanael knew what he would be doing. He would probably go to a quite park and sketch the local wildlife just to pass the time.

As he walked to the park he could feel like there was someone watching him but every time he would turn around there would be nothing there.

However during all of the commotion there had been a strange old man looking over the events which had unfolded and began to stoke his beard. He could see potential in him. He nodded to his turtle kwami and it nodded back. This boy was destined to have it.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiya chapter 2 is up and to answer the question Nath knew about the Miraculous when he saw Adrien reading about it in the library one day.

* * *

After his exhausting day he was finally back at home. He called out but his parents didn't seem to be home yet. He was all tired out and he felt like he could pass out on the spot.

He took of the bag and went to go lie down on his bed when he noticed a small orange box on it.

He read the small peculiar note on it and it read _"From a friend."_ He thought it was a gift from his parents but it wasn't their handwriting and it didn't look like anyone else handwriting he knew.

"A friend…What is this?" He opened up the box and took out an oddly shaped necklace. Nathaniel couldn't tell what it was meant to be but if he had to guess he would say he would guess it was shaped like a fox tail. It was unusual but it did look like a nice gift.

He put it on and was nearly knocked back when a something orange came flying out of it. He assumed it was some kind of practical joke and got up. He looked around but saw no signs of what he assumed to be a joke snake.

A sudden high pitched voice was coming from somewhere in the room. He was searching all around his room but his ears had been drawn to the noise coming from his bedside table.

"Hello Nathaniel." The artist looked at what appeared to be a small fox like creature. He screamed and threw a stuffed toy at it. He was at the point where he was beginning to think that he was so tired he was beginning to see things.

"Calm down." The miraculous tried to tell him but he was way to panicked to even begin listening.

"What the hell are you?" He asked terrified of the sprite like creature.

"Where are my manners? My name is Trixx and you are the holder of the new fox miraculous."

Nathaniel looked at him trying to remember but then it dawned on him where he had seen it before. The drawings that had been in Adrien's book while in the Library.

"Wait does that mean I'm going to be…"

"That's right. You're the next Fox Miraculous holder."

He had to sit down on his bed to take a moment to let this all sink in. He was going to become what he always wanted to be. He was finally going to be a hero. He had no idea if this was going to be a good or a bad thing but he was so filled up with emotions he didn't know what to say or what to do.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." The fox said sitting down on the table beside Nathaniel's bed.

"What exactly are miraculous?" He asked looking down at the pendant hanging around his neck.

"They are magical artefacts from long ago. They are given to those who are brave and want to see good triumph over evil."

"I'm not a good person. I tried to hurt someone." Nathaniel still didn't feel guilty about trying to hurt Chole, what he had felt bad about was he essentially forced Marinette to go on a date with him and he threatened her. He still had no idea how she was able to forgive him but he supposed it was Marinette. She was the nicest person in the world.

"That was because of Hawkmoth. He's the bad guy in all of this."

Nathaniel nodded to show that he understood what the small fox was saying. He still felt awful about his actions.

"What do I do to…Y'know…" He made a hand motion ponting to random places of the body. Trixx began to cackle like a witch and Nathaniel wanted him to stop. It was like a hyena. Loud and obnoxious.

Trixx snickered as he realised what the shy boy was trying to say.

"Just say, Haha boom boom." Trixx began another laughing fit. Nathaniel wasn't impressed with the fox's terrible pun and was about to take of the necklace when he got over his laughing fit and wiped a tear form his eye.

"Okay. You just say Trixx, Tail out!" He put emphasis on the tail part of his words. Nathaniel could tell that he was excited about this while he was clearly terrified.

He repeated what the fox had said and he was all of a sudden enveloped in a bright orange light. He looked as in a matter of a couple of seconds clothes had been placed on him. Not just clothes. A superhero costume.

It was a blinding orange colour with a bright bushy tail and ears to go along with it. He was taken a back. He was going to show off but when he looked around for his new tiny friend he was nowhere to be seen. His eyes were no longer the sky blue but were instead a dark brown colour, like he was wearing Halloween contact lenses.

He just now noticed that there was a paintbrush on the side of his leg. He picked it up and from what it seemed to just be a normal paint brush. He waved it around in the air causing him to create another version of himself. He moved back for a moment but then it disappeared.

He began to panic which seemed to cause him to lose the hero costume and lose the paintbrush as well. On the bright side it seemed that Trixx had returned to him.

"You okay? I know the first time is always a little bit rough."

"I get the whole costume part but what was with the paintbrush and the other me?"

"It is normally a flute as the fox holders' weapon but since you don't seem to have much talent in terms of music I changed it to something you're more comfortable with. The Fox miraculous holder also has the power of illusions. You created another you so you can distract your enemy." He explained. Nathaniel looked at his but one more time, he had forgotten that the costume was off.

He seemed to understand enough but he was aware it would take a while for him to completely adjust to the new changes.

"What about the others?"

"You'll met the others in time." He couldn't help but get the suspicion that it would be happening quite soon.

Nathaniel just took a moment to try and process all of this. It was so crazy and weird but it felt right in a way.

There were silent for a moment when Nathaniel was thinking about all of this when he suddenly made a big connection.

"Does that mean Adrien is Chat Noir?!" He said suddenly connecting the pieces. He wondered how he never noticed it before but now it was suddenly making sense. The blond hair was right and as he just witnessed the transformation could change eye colour and not just the clothes they wore.

"Yes, I have seen Plagg with him. I can't tell you who had the Ladybug miraculous but they are closer than you think. We can't just tell you who they are. We're bound by rules"

Nathaniel started to see and he couldn't think of anymore real questions. Well he did have one to ask.

"Do you need to eat or anything? I don't know what to give a 5000 year old Kwamii." He had seen the lose translations in Adrien's book but assumed it was some type of nonsense but now it was beginning to fit together like a puzzle.

"Plagg had Cheese, Tikki has her cookies, and I have my berries." He said. Now that the boy had mentioned it he was absolutely starving.

Trixx knew what just to do.

"Why don't we talk more over some food?"

Nathaniel nodded in agreement and they headed down stairs. This was going to be the start of a good partnership.


End file.
